Northrop Grumman Bids To Build Humvees For U.S. Military

Northrop Grumman Corp. is seeking a contract potentially valued at billions of dollars to build vehicles to replace the Humvees that now provide basic transportation for the Army and Marine Corps.

The Los Angeles defense contractor, in its most recent move to broaden its business beyond its aerospace and naval lines, is expected to announce today that it will compete for a chance to build as many as 140,000 vehicles. Northrop is teaming up with Oshkosh Truck Corp., which has extensive experience making military trucks.

Northrop believes its ability to pack the Oshkosh, Wis., company's vehicles with the latest technologies will give it the edge in a competition that could deliver $20 billion to $30 billion for building and maintaining the vehicles over the coming decades. Northrop's biggest rivals in the defense market -- Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems PLC, Boeing Co. and General Dynamics Corp. -- already are vying for the contract with their own teams of partners. For example, Boeing is working with Textron Inc., and fighter-jet maker Lockheed is working with BAE.